Bullcrap Detector: Sustainable Vacation

Dear Thinker:

There are a lot of feel-good words that
are synonymous with "bullcrap." Examples include
"fairness," "social justice," "community,"
"coexist," and "diversity." They are used to connote
how sensitive, caring and open-minded the speaker is, but are essentially
meaningless expressions and are certainly not quantifiable.

The most bullcrap of all is
"sustainable." It is used by the sanctimonious to show that
they want to save the planet, don't want to emit carbon, and don't waste
non-renewable energy. Often, though, the users are full of bullcrap
and do the exact opposite of what the word connotes.

A case in point is a story that appeared
today in my hometown newspaper, written by AP reporter Lynn
Dombek. She bragged about her family's vacation to Costa Rica,
which she described as "environmentally sustainable tourism."

Dombek didn't say what US city the seven family members departed
from, so let's assume they departed from New York City, since that's their
hometown (of course). Based on that assumption, they spewed
about two tons of carbon dioxide per person into the
atmosphere over the 4,500-mile roundtrip, or 14 tons for all seven of
them. In comparison, the average car produces about 3.5 tons
of CO2 over a year of traveling 12,000 miles.

Upon arrival in Costa Rica,
the seven members of the hypocrite family didn't walk, bike or
paddle to their destination. They traveled in a van for three
hours. Once at their resort destination, they could rent golf carts or
ATVs to get around instead of walking. And they didn't have to eat
berries or insects, since an expensive nearby restaurant catered
meals.

This is Dombek's, definition of
"sustainable?"

I'd like to hear her definition of
"big phony."

Compared to Dumbchick, er, Dombek, my
wife and I are misers when it comes to CO2. We typically spend
our vacation days in Tucson, which is
110 miles from our home in Scottsdale.
Our compact car uses about four gallons of gas to get there.
It does not have an environmental bumper sticker on its rear, although I
used to head up a large environmental group.

Not surprisingly, given human
nature, many professed environmentalists are two-faced, having one
face they show in public and another they show at home. For
instance, I know scores of drivers of Priuses who not only live
in large homes but also do not save energy in one of the simplest and
most effective ways possible--that is, they don't hang clothes up
to dry on a clothesline in the sun, which is a time-tested use of solar
energy. Instead, they expend CO2 by using a gas
or electric dryer, which on average, produces 4.4 pounds of CO2 per
load. That's because it's a lot easier and more noticeable to
drive a Prius than to hang clothes on a clothesline.

Hmm, I wonder if Al Gore hangs his boxer
or briefs to dry in the sun in the front yard of one of his
mansions. On second thought, maybe hanging clothes on a
clothesline isn't such a good idea.